Papadakis served as head of the civil engineering department at Colorado State University and then dean of University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering prior to 1995.[4] He was appointed President of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1995 and held that position until his death in 2009. During his tenure, Papadakis doubled the full-time undergraduate enrollment, tripled freshman applications, quintupled the university's endowment, and quintupled research funding.[3][4] His salary of $805,000 was the sixth highest among university presidents.[5] After his death Papadakis' total earnings, including life insurance payout, was estimated at over $4 million.[6]